We must destroy this village in order to save it

"Jim Pelura meets the qualifications of the Chairman that we need, and I am extremely enthusiastic about his prospects as Chairman."

I wrote that one year ago today. Man, have things changed.

In the last year, the party has plunged deeper and deeper into debt. The party has become less and less relevant in Maryland's political landscape. We have completely inappropriate involvement of key GOP staffers in the removal of a duly elected County GOP Chairman. We have a party that was virtually absent during the most recent special session. And we have budget issues that seem to be only the tip of the iceberg.

And things seem like they are only about to get worse. Sources tell me that Jim Pelura has virtually cut off the entire Executive Committee from the day-to-day operations of the party. They also tell me that Pelura is backed only by a small fraction of Central Committee leaders.

And then there is the John Flynn problem. I have never been enamored with the idea of Flynn as Executive Director, given his record of working as a member of the Maryland Accountability Project and covering up attendance records for certain favored members of the General Assembly. But Flynn's performance as Executive Director has been completely abysmal...assuming you can find the record at all. The only thing that most party activists and leaders ever hear from their Executive Director is when he forwards useless, uninteresting emails.

What is Flynn's real record? Well, a lot of people seem to only hear from Flynn when he is complaining about the reduction of his salary and celebrating with those who ousted Mike Collins as Chairman of the Anne Arundel GOP. What has Flynn accomplished as the Executive Direcotr? Do we have credible candidates in all Congressional Districts? Did we have a cohesive, organized message during the Special Session? Have we raised money? Are there more registered Republicans than there were one year ago? Did the party have a financially successful Red, White, and Blue dinner? Did the party host a financially successful golf tournament? The answer to all of those questions is a resounding no.

It has become quite apparent that during the current regime long-time Republican donors are voting with their pocketbooks and choosing not to donate to a party that appears to be in disarray. And given the things that we hear and the actions that we see, it's hard to argue that particular point.

Unfortunately, it has come to the point where we must destroy this village in order to save it. In order for the Republican Party to be a viable political entity in Maryland in 2008, 2010 and beyond, Jim Pelura needs to be removed as Chairman of the Party, and John Flynn needs to be fired as Executive Director. Now.

We have seen the record over the last year, and the record is not good. In order to ensure that there is no further damage to both the Republican Party apparatus, as well as the Republican brand here in the state of Maryland, we need change. And we need it now.